Ruminations on Wedding Rings

Interested in a little history of the diamond engagement ring? Engagement bands began in Ancient Egypt as the circle was used to symbolize a never ending cycle and the space in it as a gateway. Romans believed the ring to be a symbol for ownership rather than love. The meaning has evolved and keeps evolving…

During the age of Colonialism in America, a thimble was given as a sign of eternal companionship. Women would remove the tops of the thimble in order to create a ring. It wasn’t until fairly recently that DeBeers made spending a substantial amount of money on the ring popular, typically suggesting that it should be one month’s salary or more. This is where the diamond really flourished. Wondering how to begin buying a diamond? Read more here on the American Gem Society’s website. There is cut, color, clarity and carat weight.

I’m not actually a fan of diamonds *gasp*. However, my favorite diamond rings are ones with a lot of little diamonds that look shiny and bling filled. If I had to wear a regular diamond ring, I know I’d just catch it on everything!

Are you interested in a diamond wedding ring? Obviously, there are a million choices online and in stores, since this is the current standard. At 77 Diamonds, no two rings are the same. They host a collection of over 300,000 natural diamonds and bespoke engagement rings, all made to order and hand crafted by highly skilled jewelers. Their website offers a plethora of information about diamond buying and has a build your own tool.

Tiffany wedding rings are full of name brand recognition, however they also offer simple gold bands and more modest rings. For such a high end company, their website sure is terrible!

Looking for a guaranteed conflict free diamond ring?  Brilliant Earth provides fine jewelry from ethical, pure sources— jewelry that you can truly be proud to wear. They also sell antique wedding rings, which are perfect for a vintage themed wedding. Green Karat is another great resource for sustainable information and unique ring designs online. They are a Green America approved vendor, just like McKay’s Photography!

Brilliant Earth adds a few more important notes here:  “Just to add something to the part on rings, it’s important to know a few things if you’re going to buy conflict-free rings. First, most jewelers will say that they are selling “conflict-free” diamonds. However, if you want to be certain about it, make sure that your jeweler can trace the diamond back to the mine and provide a written guarantee that the diamond is conflict-free. Second, if you want an eco-friendly wedding ring, consider buying a ring made of recycled gold. Gold mining is an especially dirty process. About 20 tons of mine waste are generated to produce a single gold ring, and gold mining poisons waters supplies with toxic chemicals like cyanide and mercury.”

If  you are having a rustic, vintage or sustainably green wedding, my recommendation is in finding a family heirloom or other antique wedding ring. Jordan proposed with Melissa’s Grandmother’s wedding ring and then they bought his ring from a local estate jeweler {both pictured below}… or go completely alternative and get a tattoo wedding band instead!

So what about the Groom’s ring? Platinum, white gold and yellow gold are the most popular choices for men’s wedding bands. Well, there are a plethora of options, all of which are a little more interesting and more sustainable. I’ve seen concrete rings, for those super active Grooms. Titanium is another quality alternative, as well as Steel, wood rings, recycled gold, ceramic, palladium, cobalt, tungsten and others.

A quick Facebook poll showed Tungsten Carbide as a leader and The Morey has gone through 3 rings in 3 years: “The 1st was white gold. The 2nd was tungsten carbide. The 3rd is Titanium.” Sheesh!

Where did you get your ring? What is it made of? Have you lost it yet?? I’m also interested in knowing how you proposed…